He's 8!?!

I don't know how it happened so fast, but suddenly my little boy is 8 years old!!

We had a super duper spy party for him yesterday.  Tanner was allowed to invite 8 friends over, and he is such a good boy and decided to include his little brothers in his list.

We first had practice interrogation - played the game where you have a character on your back and can only ask yes or no questions.

Then we came up with code names by popping a balloon with an adjective and a balloon with a creature - we got names like dancing fox and big dragon and clever badger, etc.  And everyone was given essential spy tools - a magnifying glass and black sunglasses.

Then we had to crack the code.  Each alphabet letter was assigned a symbol and they had to figure out what the sentences said.  (It's great to be 8!  and  Happy Birthday Tanner!)  Oh and did I mention it was all in size 4 font so they had to use a magnifying glass to figure them out.

The laser challenge was fun.  Everyone tested their skills at limbo and contortion-ism as they went over under and around the laser beams.

Disabling bombs was a real "hit"!  Except for the one piece of candy that exploded on Colt's head, everyone came out of it injury free.  (and loaded with sugar)  There was a clue to find their stolen weapons as well, so off they went on the scavenger hunt.

The clues were things like "modern day ice chest", "green gas guzzler", "electrical plate cleaner", etc.  The catch was that the clues were all in font size 2 so a magnifying glass was required.

When the weapons were located we had target practice shooting balloons and targets drawn on the windows.

Special ops included gifts and cake & ice cream.

Then everyone took a break and played 2 square and jumped on the tramp.

Party was a huge success!  Happy 8th Birthday Big Boy!

Bowling King

Dave has been doing a bowling league since January.  He goes every Tuesday and bowls with some friends in the ward and some new friends too.  He is getting really good.  His high score was 240, and of course he has bad games too in the low hundreds.

On Tuesday we joined him to see these amazing scores and cheer him on.  It was fun to be there with him.

 Sabree is the best cheerleader!!

 There was a beautiful sunset over the river on our way home.  And the night ended with dollar cones from Baskin Robbins.

TOFW

I had the chance to escape for the weekend with some of my favorite people.  We went to time out for women in Spokane and had a lovely time.  

Of course we hit the mall first.  It was fun to try on crazy shoes and hats and we all bought new jeans...hot buns!!!

 The speakers were so awesome.  We learned how to Live Higher, and most of all came home feeling like we can do it!

love the new jeans!!

 We ate out at Olive Garden for lunch.

I love my friends that have become more like sisters and feel so grateful for a weekend away to bond and get better together!!

Spring Break - the rest of the week

I have to keep the kids busy so we don't feel bored, grumpy, and irritable.  So we planned fun things all week.

Wednesday we went to the library for a bike rodeo.  It really was kind of lame, but they boys got new helmets and learned bike safety.

 That evening we had a hot dog roast and played in the backyard.  Sabree loves the tramp....and her hair is awesome!

(Note Dave in the background.)

Thursday we had some neighbors over and had a pizza party.  We had 5 different families come with their kids and we made homemade pizza, played 2 square in the rain, and watched Hotel Transylvania.  It was fun for me to visit with moms and the kids had a great time playing.

Friday we had science day.  We did various science experiments like water/oil tricks but most fun was making Flubber.  It is Elmer's glue and borax.  It was way cool!

 It started out really gooey, then we added more Borax to see what would happen and it would become more and more rubbery.

 Sabree did not like it at all. She is wiping it off on her shirt in this picture.

We had a fun week together.  I will be glad to send them back to school on Monday  :)

Spring Break - Raptor Reef

Usually for Spring Break I take the kids to UT to hang out with family.  But since we were there for the wedding just weeks before, we decided to stick around.  On Monday and Tuesday, Ashley Stratton and I took our kiddos and headed to Couer'dalene to go to an indoor water park.  It was only a 2 1/2 hour drive and a whole lot of fun.

On Monday the kids had a great time playing in the water, playing mini golf, eating out, sleeping in a hotel and being together with friends.

 Just before dinner while playing mini golf, Braden and William crashed into each other and Will's tooth went through his lip and into Braden forehead.  Poor Will really had a rough go, with a bloody mouth and moved tooth and hamburger lip.  Braden must have a head full of rocks...his damage was only two little teeth marks in his hair line.

 But after dinner Will and Brady and Sabree were done playing and exhausted.  Brady said he felt sick in his tummy, and Will's mouth hurt.  So I took the 3 little ones back to the hotel and Ashley continued to get our $20 per person worth of fun out of the day and hung out at the pool until 10pm.

Tuesday morning we woke up all feeling refreshed and ready to go (after a long night with Sabree).  We headed to the park to play.

The kids loved exploring around the Lake too.  Tanner and Issy were sure they were finding silver and fossils in the rocks.